The present invention relates to vehicle mount audio equipment, and more particularly, to an operation panel turnabout mechanism for vehicle mount audio equipment which is useful for concealing the equipment to prevent it from being stolen when the user leaves the vehicle.
A mechanism is known which prevents vehicle mount audio equipment from being stolen by concealing it when the user leaves the car. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an example of a conventional mechanism which prevents vehicle mount audio equipment from being stolen.
In the figure, an operation panel 1 is rotatably supported by a fixed arm 17, which is secured to a housing, and urged by a spring, not shown, to rotate forward. As shown in FIG. 8(a), the operation panel 1 covers the front of the housing when in use. In this state, the operation panel 1 is retained against spring elasticity by a lock mechanism, not shown, as shown in the figure.
When a panel open button 1a is pressed in the state shown in FIG. 8(a), lock of the operation panel by the lock mechanism is released, so that the operation panel 1 falls forward as shown in FIG. 8(b). In this state, the operation panel 1 can be removed as shown in FIG. 8(c), thus allowing the vehicle mount audio equipment to be prevented from being stolen by bringing the operation panel 1 out of the vehicle when he or she leaves the vehicle.
The above-described conventional mechanism requires an operation panel to be removed and brought out to prevent vehicle mount audio equipment from being stolen. This is troublesome and may cause the operation panel to be lost. Moreover, the back of the operation panel cannot be used for various kinds of displays.
As a mechanism for preventing the vehicle mount audio equipment from being stolen without removing the operation panel, the applicant has proposed a drive mechanism which drives the operation panel to conceal the vehicle mount audio equipment by turning over the panel in such a manner that the panel faces backward.
In Japanese Patent Application No. 7-303412 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-123842), the applicant proposed vehicle mount audio equipment, in which a lever which is rotatably installed on the audio equipment body supports an operation panel at the side ends thereof via a shaft so that the panel rotates freely, a first gear is secured to the operation panel so that the shaft is at the center thereof, a second gear is rotatably supported on a shaft which is provided in the middle of the lever, and a third gear is secured to the audio equipment body so that the center of rotation of the lever is at the center thereof, the first and second gears are engaged with each other, the second and third gears are engaged with each other, and the lever is rotationally driven.
The operation panel drive mechanism, which rotates the operation panel about the shaft at the end of the panel with the gears, has a problem that, since gravity applied to the operation panel acts as a load to a driving torque of the gears, the transmission torque of the driving mechanism increases, so that the apparatus becomes large-scale.
Another problem with the mechanism is that the operation panel is at a substantially middle level, thus preventing a large space from being provided for recording medium insertion and discharge when the operation panel takes a horizontal position to open a rear recording medium inlet, because the shaft about which the operation panel rotates moves in an arc about the axis of a chassis and the ratio of the speed of the shaft to the speed of rotation of the operation panel is constant.
In Japanese Patent Application No. 8-103935 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-267699), the applicant proposed a vehicle mount audio equipment, wherein a lever which supports a shaft at the end of the operation panel of the vehicle mount audio equipment is rotatably supported by a lever which, in turn, is rotatably supported by a chassis, and an operation panel is let to rotate about a shaft, using gears secured to the operation panel while these two levers are rotated.
Such a structure allows a large space to be provided for recording medium insertion and discharge, with the operation panel positioned below when the operation panel takes a horizontal position to open a rear recording medium inlet.
However, as is the case with the above-described mechanism, torque for rotating the operation panel about the shaft at its end using the gears is large. An additional problem with the vehicle mount audio equipment is that the mechanism is large and complex, because the lever supporting the operation panel is rotatably supported by the other lever.
It is an object of the present invention, which was made in light of the foregoing, to provide an operation panel turnabout mechanism for vehicle mount audio equipment which is simple and allows vehicle mount audio equipment to be prevented from being stolen without removing the operation panel.
In an operation panel turnabout mechanism for vehicle mount audio equipment of the present invention, a panel supporting member which rotatably supports an operation panel is provided to freely project from a housing and urged in the direction of projection using elasticity of a spring, the operation panel is manually made to face backward with the panel supporting member projected from the housing, and the panel supporting member is moved back against elasticity of the spring to allow the operation panel to be installed on the front surface of the housing when the operation panel faces backward.
The operation panel turnabout mechanism for vehicle mount audio equipment is adapted so that the panel supporting member rotates, thus projecting from the housing and that a convexity provided in the operation panel is guided along a guide slit in the housing or a member secured to the housing.
In an operation panel turnabout mechanism for vehicle mount audio equipment of the present invention, an operation panel supporting member which rotatably supports an operation panel is rotatably supported on a housing, the operation panel supporting member is manually rotated by rotating the operation panel in such a direction that the panel moves away from the housing to face the operation panel backward and then the operation panel is rotated toward the housing to allow the operation panel to be installed on the front surface of the housing when the operation panel faces backward.